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20th Century Fox aims to develop, workshop and produce musicals based on their film library

20th Century Fox is planning a major musical move. The film studio has partnered with Broadway producer Kevin McCollum (Motown, Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights), film producer John Davis (Predator, The Firm, Grumpy Old Men, I Robot,Chronicle) and industry executive Tom McGrath to turn movies from the 20th Century Fox library into musicals for Broadway and touring—and then back into films in their new form. They aim to produce nine musicals based on films in the next “several” years, with McCollumn overseeing day to day operations. Fox has also brought on Isaac Robert Hurwitz, executive director and producer of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, as a consultant to help guide their theatre activities.

PASADENA—The classical rep theatre company A Noise Within
has broken ground on its new 300-seat, permanent home in Pasadena. The
groundbreaking comes after years of comprehensive planning and ongoing
fundraising efforts, with $10.1 million of the $13.3 million goal raised to
date. The new 33,000- square-foot facility, will be an anchor in East
Pasadena's arts expansion, part of a mixed-use development in the historic
mid-century modern Stuart Pharmaceutical building at the corner of Foothill
Blvd. and Sierra Madre Villa Ave. next to the Gold Line. The company is slated
to move in Fall 2011 for its 20th season.

Flying By Foy debuted Aereographer, their cutting-edge flight programming, design and pre-viz tool, at USITT 2012. Here, Matt Bevacqua from Flying by Foy walks you through a demo of some of its great features.

The Little Theatre Gateshead, named after its town in northern England, recently upgraded its FOH lighting truss with custom truss from Litec, CM Lodestar chain hoists and a bespoke motor controller and power distro. All of this was supplied by A.C. Entertainment Technologies. They then followed up the new lighting position install by purchasing a new Zero 88 Solution XL lighting desk from AC-ET.

A.C.T Lighting is the new exclusive distributor for all Robert Juliat products in the U.S. The Robert Juliat USA office will remain open until the end of year, but A.C.T Lighting will manage all sales and customer service issues going forward. RJ USA’s Fred Lindauer and Pete Engel will join the A.C.T Lighting sales group.

Ellen Richard, the new executive director of American Conservatory Theater

SAN FRANCISCO—The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has
appointed Ellen Richard as executive director following an international
search. Richard’s career has included such positions as executive director of
Second Stage Theatre and managing director of Roundabout Theatre Company. She
oversaw complete financial overhauls of both institutions, developing
Roundabout from a small nonprofit organization into one of the leading
performing arts institutions in the country, with three performing spaces and
net assets of more than $67 million. During her tenure at Second Stage, she
helped grow the institution (48% increase in subscription income and 75%
increase in individual giving) and brokered the purchase of the Helen Hayes
Theatre, a Broadway performance space for the company. She holds six Tony
Awards as a producer, for Roundabout productions of Cabaret (1998), A View from the Bridge (1998), Side Man (1999), Nine (2003), Assassins (2004),
and Glengarry Glen Ross (2005).
A.C.T.’s executive director search was managed by the Korn/Ferry International
search firm with generous support from The James Irvine Foundation and The
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Richard will start her tenure at A.C.T. on
August 17, 2010.

The American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) offers three educational conferences this summer to help theatre personnel sharpen their skills and help advance their theatres. First, they will hold a Technical Theatre Conference at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan August 8-10. This hands-on “Techie Boot Camp” will focus on three core areas of technical theatre: sound, lighting, and scenic design. Additionally, they will host an Artistic Directors Conference and an Education Directors Conference at the Hyatt Regency Tulsa in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma August 22-23. The Artistic Directors Conference will address topics drawn from every aspect of producing theatre and providing artistic direction and is meant for anyone who is responsible for the overall artistic direction of their theatre. The Education Directors Conference will address topics drawn from every aspect of conducting educational programs, and give participants skills to better manage education issues. These two conferences, hosted by Theatre Tulsa, are being held simultaneously so participants from the same, or nearby theatres can share transportation and housing costs.

More than 1200 people attended AACTFest, the national theater festival sponsored by the American Association of Community Theatre, June 18-24, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hosted by The Metrolina Theatre Association, the event featured keynote speaker Ben Cameron, past executive director of Theatre Communications Group. Organizers were pleased that event registrations were up nearly 30 percent from the previous festival, according to AACT Executive Director Julie Angelo at AACT.

Aaron Carter has been named Steppenwolf’s new Director of New Play Development, where he will lead the theatre's new play commissioning program. Carter has been Steppenwolf’s literary manager since 2011.